Murine autoimmune interstitial nephritis

I. The role of cellular immunity

Abstract

Three inbred strains of mice, BALB/c, C3H/He, and C57BL/6 were immunized with allogenic tubular basement membrane (TBM) antigen purified from outbred ddY mice. Renal histological changes of these mice were examined by photomicrograph and direct immunofluorescence. Immune response to IBM antigen was studied by quantification of anti-TBM antibody and proliferative response of nylon wool r cells to TBM antigen. Remarkable differences were obtained in the occurrence of interstitial nephritis (IN) among three inbred strains. BALB/c mice were highly susceptible to IN, whereas C57BL/6 were not. Immune response to TBM antigen, antibody and/or proliferative response of splenic nylon wool T cells to TBM antigen, was greater in BALB/c and lower in C57BL/6. C3H/He mice showed a significantly high antibody response, but no difference in proliferative response of T cells to TBM antigen, compared with C57BL/6. The histological changes that developed in C3H/He were limited to minimal cell infiltration. Furthermore, nylon wool adherent cells had strong suppressive activity on proliferative response of nylon wool T cells to TBM antigen in low responder C57BL/6. Thus, development of IN was closely related to the cell mediated immunity.